Rick Warren - Facing Giants in Life and Work Part One

This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Warren.

Today we continue in a series called Transformed. In these lessons, Rick

uncovers key principles found in God's Word that will completely transform our lives from the

inside out in every area including spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, relational,

financial, and vocational. Now, in just a few moments, we're

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to eight hundred six hundred five to find out more. Right now, here's

Pastor Rick Warren with part one of a message called Facing Giants in Life and

Work. Now. Your ability to dream is a God given gift. It's

what makes you different from animals. Animals cannot imagine the future. God gave

you as a human being made in His image. The ability to see the

past that's called memory. And to visualize or imagine the future, that's called

dreaming. You got to have a dream. If you don't have a dream

for your life, you're literally just drifting. You're just drifted along. You're

letting life happen to you. And by the way, when you're coasting,

you're always going downhill. So you need a dream for your life. It

is the greatest gift that God had given you, the ability to dream.

We are most like our creator when we are creative. Nothing happens without a

dream. Everything you see, every piece of art, every business, every

architecture, every product, everything happens because somebody thought it out first. Everything

begins as a dream. Napoleon says imagination rules the world, and Einstein said

imagination is more important than knowledge. Is that ability to dream that makes us

creators in the image of God. Now I've invested my life encouraging people to

discover God's dream, God's purpose for their lives, and then helping them fulfill

that dream. And what I've discovered is that for every person who figures out

their life dream, their life work, which is far more important than your

job, because your jobs are going to change, but your life work is

the dream that God gives you for your life. For every person who figures

that out and heads after their dream, there are nine people who are afraid

to get started. And what causes us to be afraid to go after our

dream? Or what I call the giants in the pathway? These are giant

problems. These are dream busters that stand there in your path saying you will

not pass by, you will not go any further than this, and if

you believe it, you get stuck in mediocrity. These problems can be financial

problems, they can be emotional problems. They can be relational problems. They

can be problems with your health. What do you do when you face these

giants in life? How do you face the giants in your life and work

well? Fortunately, we have a wonderful story in the Bible that shows us

how to deal with the giants in our lives. It's called the story of

David and Goliath. Let me read the initial text first Samuel, chapter seventeen.

Now the Philistines had gathered forces for war. They occupied one hill and

the Israelites another, with the valley between them. Champion named Goliath from Gaff

came out of the Philistine camp he was a giant of a man. One

translation says nine feet tall, once a seven. They're very different in the

translations. Wearing a huge bronze helmet and a coat of bronze armor that weighed

over one hundred and twenty five pounds, so this guy's a big man.

He also wore bronze leggings, and he slung a huge bronze javelin over his

back. The iron spear head alone on his javelin weighed fifteen pounds, and

a soldier with a large shield always walked in front of Goliath. Now,

it's unlikely that you're ever gonna have to face a physical giant like David did,

but it is highly likely that you're gonna have to face a whole lot

of other common giants. These giants of financial problems, relational problems, marriage

problems, work problems, problems that keep you from going after your dream.

And in this story for Samuel seventeen, David actually had to fight four other

giants before he gets to Goliath. They weren't physical giants, but they were

giants in here in his mind. You are far more likely to have to

face those giants than the goliath, but they can be just as big and

just as intimidating, and can keep you from becoming who God wants you to

be and fulfilling the dream that God has put in your heart. Let me

give you a little background the chapter before this chapter in the Bible, chapter

sixteen, here's an interesting story a man named Samuel. This book is called

for Samuel because it's named after the chief religious leader that day. Samuel was

the prophet of Israel in that day. And in First Samuel sixteen, God

says to Samuel, I want you to go to the town of Bethlehem,

and I want you to find a guy named Jesse, and you're going to

anoint Jesse's son as the next king of Israel. Now, the existing king

was still alive, very much alive, Saul, but God had already decided

Saul's days were over. So this is a secret plan. And God just

tells Samuel, you're gonna go anoint the next king of Israel. So Samuel

goes to Jerusalem. He finds this guy named Jesse. He says, do

you have a son? Jesse says, not only to have a son,

I've got eight. And so Samuel goes, well, then I'm gonna have

to look at them all. So Samuel brings his seven oldest excuse me,

Jesse brings his seven oldest sons to parade them before the prophet to see which

one's going to become King of Israel. And he shows him the oldest son

and and uh, Samuel goes, not the guy. Next. He shows

him the second oldest is not the guy. Next, he shows him his

third oldest son. Not the guy. Next. He's going no, no,

pass, no five, six, seven, And none of the guys

are right. Samuel goes, uh, you got any other kids. Jesse

goes, oh yeah, there's one more, the youngest, the run little

David. But he's like a piff squeak. And I didn't even mind bringing

him in. He's out ten in the sheep, he said, bring him

in. He brings in the youngest. Samuel takes one looks at him,

says that's the guy, and he anoints him as king of Israel. Now

you know what happens after this? Nothing? Nothing happens. Jesse says to

his youngest kid, Okay, now get back out there and start ten in

the sheep. Nothing at all changes in David's life. He has been given

the dream. He's been told you're the next king of Israel. But get

back out there intend the sheep. And there is actually quite a long delay

between when David is anointed as king and he actually sees the fulfillment of his

dream years later. There's a big delay. And I would say that this

is exactly what happens in your life. And the first giant in facing your

dream you might want to write this down, is delay. The no dream

is fulfilled instantly. God gives you the dream on one day, and he

doesn't fulfill it the next day. No, it's years later that you see

the fulfillment of your life dream. There is always a time delay. There

is always a time lapse. There is always a waiting period. And in

David's case, his dad holds him back from the dream. In David's case,

his dad held him back and said, David, you need to get

back out there and start tending sheep. He didn't think David was old enough

or experienced enough to be the king of Israel. And in verse twelve to

fifteen it says this Now, David was the youngest of Jesse's eight sons,

and his three older brothers enlisted in Saul's army, but David was held back,

circle back, held back to care for the sheep in Bethlehem. The

first barrier of your dream is this. They're going to be people who hold

you back. They are going to be people in your life who hold you

back from the dream that God has given you. Some of you know what

I'm talking about. You have been held back from what you want to do

with your life because of your age. Some of you have been held back

because of what you want to do with your life and what the dream God's

given you, because of your race. Some of you have been held back

because of your gender. Some of you have been held back because you weren't

pretty enough, or handsome enough, or smart enough or whatever enough. Discrimination

in any form is a barrier that you have to break through, and there

will be people who want to hold you back. Now here's the sad part.

Sometimes the people who hold you back the most are those who love you

the most. In this case, it's David's dad. His dad isn't going

to go for it, and my son is going to be the king of

Israel. Said, I'll get back out there and tend the sheep. Because

Jesse would just assume not have his son be the king of Israel, he'd

lose a worker. You see, God has a plan for your life,

but so does everybody else. And when God's plan contradicts somebody else's plan,

there's going to be a delay and people are going to try to hold you

back. Listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, Rick will be back in just

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Once again, here's Pastor Rick. You see, God has a plan for

your life, but so does everybody else. And when God's planned contradicts somebody

else's plan, there's going to be a delay and people are going to try

to hold you back. Others have plans for your life too. David's dad

just wanted him to be a shepherd, and there's this delay, and you're

going to see this delay in your life. Sometimes even people who love you

will hold you back from the dream God has given you. Now, at

one point, Jesse goes, you know, my three favorite sons. They're

out on the front line with Saul fight in the battle. And he tells

David, I want you to take a care package of food to your older

brothers at the battlefield. So he gives David all this food and he sends

him off, and this way David gets to see the battle. And when

he's there delivering the foods to his older brothers, he hears Goliath coming down

every day and shouting these taunts and saying we're gonna, you know, whip

your rear and we're gonna win the battle. And you guys are all going

to be defeated. And David noticed nobody's doing anything about this guy. And

he notices everybody around here is scared to death. They're all embarrassed, they're

all afraid, they're all terrorized, they're all traumatized. Nobody wants to do

anything. They're all scared to death. And this is the second barrier you

will face in finding and fulfilling your dream. And it is this discouragement you

will face discouragement because everybody around you is scared to death. Nobody thinks you

can do it, nobody has hope, nobody believes that you can take down

this giant. And they're all scared to death, and they're all convincing each

other that it's impossible to make any difference. You see, Goliath had created

a climate of fear in Israel, and everybody had concluded we're going to lose

this battle, and nobody can beat Goliath. In verses eight to ten,

it says this, Each day Goliath would stand and shout at the ranks of

Israel's army. He would say, why do you come out here and line

up for battle? Choose one man to fight me, and if he's able

to kill me, we'll become your subjects. But if I kill him,

you'll become our subjects and serve us. Day after day circle that day after

day, Goliath taunted them, saying, this day I defy the ranks of

Israel. And when Saul, that's a king and Israelites heard this, everyone

was deeply shaken and paralyzed with fear. Now, notice the situation. They're

all demoralized, They're gripped with anxiety, they're terrified, they're traumatized, they

feel hopeless. One translation says they were so frightened they couldn't do anything.

Have you ever been in a situation where everybody around you thought this is hopeless?

Maybe you have been at work and then you're all saying, hey,

in this economy, nobody can grow anything. We can't solve this problem.

It's going down the tube, and everybody around you is saying it can't be

done. It can't be done, it can't be done. It's never gonna

happen. It's never going to happen. And they're all discouraged, and they're

all convincing each other because they're all filled with fear, and they say,

there's nothing we can do about this problem. Let me tell you something.

Conventional wisdom is often wrong. It is often wrong. Everybody there was wrong,

it says there twice in that passage, Goliath challenged the ranks of the

Israeli army. Sometimes the solution has to come outside the rank and file.

What you need is a little kid from a village to come and go,

we can do this. What you need is a fresh set of eyes.

Because the professionals were wrong, the crowd was wrong. Just because everybody says

it's so doesn't make it so. The crowd is often wrong. Just because

somebody says of the crowd says it's true doesn't mean it's true. And so

somebody had to challenge the status quote. Now, why had everybody given up?

Why had they all gotten so discouraged from this one giant? The answer

is they were listening to the wrong voice. They were listening to this guy

every single day. Look at the next verse, verse sixteen. For forty

days, twice a day, morning and evening, the Philistine giant loudly berated

di Israeli or Israelite Army. Well, it's no wonder they got discouraged.

They're listening to this guy day after day after day after day. Question,

who are you listening to? Who are you listening to? Who says it

can't be done? Who is pooh poohing your dream, putting down your dream,

saying it won't ever happen, forget it? Who is telling you that

you're not the person to do it. You know, if you listen to

negative people long enough, you know what happens. You get negative Because it's

highly contagious. Maybe one of the best things you should do is stop listening

to talk radio because it is negative, negative, negative, negative, negative.

And you know what, if you listen to negative, you know what,

You're gonna become a negative, bitter person. And if you listen to

people who are against, against, against, against, every day of your

likeness, what you end up being against everything. Negativity is contagious, and

so is fear, and so is discouragement. And if you listen to somebody

who said America is going to hell in a handbasket day after day after day,

pretty soon you start acting like it and you believe in it now.

Sometimes you just need a fresh voice, You need a kid from the village

with fresh eyes. Go. This guy's nothing. We can take him down.

It's a slam dunk. Look. In the next verse, verses twenty

three and twenty four, as David talked with his brothers on the front line,

he saw Goliath start shouting his usual threats to Israel's army. And when

the army heard Goliath, they all ran away in terror. They all ran

away. Let me give you some advice. Don't hang out with fearful people.

Don't hang out with fearful people, because if you do, you will

become fearful. If you hang out with cowards, you become a coward.

You hang out with bitter people, you become bitter. You hang out with

angry people, you become angry. You hang out with negative people, you

become negative. It's highly contagious. The first barrier to your dream is delayed,

somebody's trying to hold you back. But the second barrier to your dream,

the second dream buster, is discouragement because everybody around you is telling you

that life sucks and it can't be done, and they're wrong. They're wrong.

Now there's a third dream buster, and I at the giant of disapproval.

And David had to handle this one. Is he had to be willing

to face the disapproval of people around him in order to go after his dream.

And you will too. Now here's the problem. The reason why most

people don't ever go after their dream is they are afraid of disapproval, They

are afraid of rejection. In this case, David's own brother questioned his motives.

David's own brother questioned his motives and disapproved of David even going after the

giant. We want everybody to like us, I mean, we really do

want we want everybody to approve of everything we do. But if you go

after God's dream for your life, I'm guaranteeing you this, there will be

naysayers, there will be critics, there will be miss understanding, there will

be attacks, there will be people who are judging you for what you do

because they don't get it. And that is the disapproval giant. In this

case, David's own brother questions David's motivation, and he treats his younger brother

with disdain and disgust, and he demeans him, and he disregards him,

and he belittles him. In verse twenty eight twenty nine, notice this conversation

between the older brother and the younger brother, and David's there on the front

line, and he asks the soldiers, what's the reward for killing this philistine

and ending this disgraceful abuse? What's the reward? Now? When David's older

brother heard David and even ask this question, he burned with anger at David

and he said, now, listen to this conversation and see if you can

identify with it. David's older brother says, why are you here anyway?

Why aren't you taking care of your scrawny little flock? Of sheep. You

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